Well, we're back from the trip, which was great, and I'll talk about that soon, but first I've got to talk about the final episode of Lost.

I thought there were some really sweet moments between the characters and I found most of the awakenings very affecting and emotionally satisfying, especially the one between Charlie and Claire. Unfortunately, I was ultimately disappointed that they flaked out on explaining what was going on. The creators clearly lied about knowing the whole story from the beginning, clearly lied about the alternate universe being real, and clearly lied with their whole "There's nothing supernatural going on, it's all science" pledge even though we still really have no idea what the hell was going on. Of course, the writers clearly didn't know either. Even Jacob was probably just echoing poorly understood ideas he heard from C.J. Cregg and who knows if even she knew what she was talking about.

It was also weird who they decided to include and not include. It's too bad Michael & Walt didn't love each other enough to go to Super Church with the rest of the original castaways. And poor Daniel and Charlotte didn't get to have the love flashback when they touched. What was that about? And does Ben staying outside mean that he's not ready to let go or that he never died? Did he take over as protector for Hurley (after they turned the island back into a spaceship and flew off to have adventures in outer space)? Oh, and I really dug Hurley giving Ben the relationship he never had with Jacob. That was good stuff.

I actually sort of liked the hokey idea of a world they created in order to find each other again after death, but why did they make it so grim and violent? And why show us the island under water and have Juliet say the bomb worked? Maybe Christian was lying to Jack. Maybe he's still the man in black and he's finally got all the candidates trapped!

I of course liked the symmetry of things ending just the way they started, Jack laying in the reeds, being startled by Vincent. I'd accuse the whole show of being Jack's pre-death hallucination, only I'm not convinced Jack was interesting enough to dream all that.

I went back this past week and watched the first 13 episodes of Season 1 just to see if it was as good as I recall six years ago. I was very interested in, after seeing Season 6, how the season would hold up. I think the first 9 or 10 episodes were brilliant. And then the episode about Claire's back story happened. I think that was the first sign that they had this idea that they could go off on tangents indefinitely. The baby plot really ended up being about nothing at all after hours of build up.

It was a red herring of sorts... It was kind of a lame distraction from the story that was presented to us first.

Also Locke in the very first episode was played as if he was possessed. He went off on his good versus evil speech playing backgammon with black and white marble pieces in that same first episode. I think in episode 2 or 3, Locke would stare at other survivors while ominous sound effects would echo (early smoke monster sounds?) And then in episode three he actually faces the smoke monster only to show up later untouched. Very suspicious. And then he takes an unusual interest in helping Charlie and Boone overcome their issues. (As if he were winning them over to his side.) I can see where that could make people think the island was purgatory. Everyone had serious personal issues to overcome and suddenly the island is helping them resolve those issues. Then there is the scene where Jack sees his dead father and chases him into the woods only to run into Locke with a dead boar. So it would have been impossible for Locke not to have noticed a dead man walking by him the way it was edited. So what was the deal there? I don't buy it that Jack was hallucinating. Jack's dad showed up way too many times in the next few seasons.

But I think at some point in Season 1 or 2, they decided to make Locke just a regular guy that got "magicked" by the island, so he "knows things." But then they changed their minds again around season 4 was it? Locke really did end up being the smoke monster.

In that way, the plot does not make sense to me. I think it would have been better if the writers chose to make him an impostor from the very start. So still I think Season 6 was the weakest and a waste of time. Too many plot holes through all of the seasons really.

Just my take focusing on just one aspect of the show. If there were a part two. It would be the Walt thing. Another plot that ended up being meaningless after an amazing amount of build up. Watched a little of episode 14. I believe that is when Michael started his screaming "Walt" 50 times per episode. Pretty much why I decided to quit watching the show in Season 3. But I got pulled back in.

Just trying to agree with your take. There was no master plan. Too many inconsistencies.